Right leg calf muscle pain

Dear Doctor,
I recently have been experiencing pain on my right leg calf around at the right portion of the calf muscle. I got it suddenly
when i awoke one morning. i hadn't done any stretching or exercises the days before. All week i was home and the previous day
i just had a normal short walk in the city. The pain same suddenly the next day. I don't remember hitting any thing too. It
pains when i walk, touch the calf muscles and stand straight idle. The feeling is like some poisonous snake has bitten me.
Its kinda burning pain. When i touch the muscle its like a little bumpy muscle. Left leg's calf muscle is smooth.
A night before, i woke up due to an excruciating pain and couldn't sleep long. The pain lessens when i sit on a chair or lie
in the bed. But now when i get off the bed and stand the leg hurts very bad and now i can see a slight swell near the ankle.
So when i stand the calf muscle hurts bad and it starts getting warmer and warmer and the skin color turns reddish. Nerve
near the ankle also shows. Its like the blood flow, when i stand, creates the pressure and presses my muscles to cause the
pain.
When i stretch my leg, sit on the ground with legs straight and point the toes toward my head then it hurts bad but when i
unstretch the leg then pain is kinda relieved.
So if i just stand still at one place it hurts so i have to walk around to relieve the pain, but the pain while walking is
quite less than standing.
I am so uncertain as what might be causing this problem and seek a solution to end it. It is so good to find a place or site
like this where we can ask questions to a doctor. I really appreciate your good work and am deeply grateful to you for your
humanitarian deed. Looking forward to your advice.
Thank you very much.

Hi there. The problem you are facing is calf muscle cramps causing pain. It is usually short term. There are
various causes for it like, sudden, improper stretching of calf muscle, may be due to fatigue, or may be due
to over exertion or sometimes cold weather precipitates it. Sometimes varicose veins & cellulites also
cause calf muscle pain. Conservative management is successful in most of the cases, like complete bed rest
until pain subsides, cold pack or ice cubes application .for reducing the swelling, wearing elastic
compression bandages & keeping the leg at a height above heart level. If persistent, I suggest you to take
consultation with general surgeon. Hope my advice helpful to you. Take care.
For additional information:
www.himalayahealthcare.com
www.buzzle.com

Our doctors provide free answers to your questions. If you are happy with our services,
please consider making a donation. Click the button below to donate.

Please rate my answer (select the stars, no need to log in.)

Comments:

Comment by Shannon on Sun 27, Sep 2009 09:44pm:

About your leg...I know you got an answer from a Doctor, but all the symptoms you describe sound like DVT.
You may want to have it checked for that.

Comment by diya on Sat 25, Aug 2012 07:00am:

I had similar symptoms before and it was presumed to be cellulitis! Now my calf hurts again and I haven't
done anything strenous at all. This sucks :/

The site is not a replacement for professional medical opinion, examination, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your medical doctor or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment or making any changes to existing treatment.
Do not delay seeking or disregard medical advice based on information written by any author on this site. No health questions and information on AskMedicalDoctor is regulated or evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefore the information should not
be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a medical doctor. Posts made to these forums express the views and opinions of the author, and not the administrators, moderators, or editorial staff and hence AskMedicalDoctor and its principals will accept no liabilities or responsibilities for the statements made.